WordNet
n. a strangler tree native to southern Florida and West Indies; begins as an epiphyte eventually developing many thick aerial roots and covering enormous areas [syn: golden fig, Florida strangler fig, wild fig, Ficus aurea]
a common tropical American clusia having solitary white or rose flowers [syn: pitch apple, Clusia rosea, Clusia major]
Wikipedia
Strangler fig is the common name for a number of tropical and subtropical plant species, including some banyans and unrelated vines, including among many other species:
- Ficus altissima
- Ficus aurea, also known as the Florida strangler fig
- Ficus barbata, also known as the bearded fig
- Ficus benghalensis
- Ficus burtt-davyi
- Ficus citrifolia
- Ficus craterostoma
- Ficus tinctoria
- Ficus macrophylla
- Ficus obliqua
- Ficus virens
- Ficus watkinsiana
They all share a common "strangling" growth habit that is found in many tropical forest species, particularly of the genus Ficus. This growth habit is an adaptation for growing in dark forests where the competition for light is intense. These plants begin life as hemiepiphytes, when their seeds, often bird- dispersed, germinate in crevices atop other trees. These seedlings grow their roots downward and envelop the host tree while also growing upward to reach into the sunlight zone above the canopy.
An original support tree can sometimes die, so that the strangler fig becomes a "columnar tree" with a hollow central core.